At just under half an hour, kissing other ppl feels like an intimate postcard rather than a long letter—short, but carefully composed, and full of subtle detail. The collaboration between Chicago-born songwriter Rachel Baiman and North Carolina’s Viv & Riley (Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno) unfolds with a kind of hushed immediacy. Voices are captured close to the mic, warmly framed by banjo, fiddle, and understated guitar, leaving plenty of breathing space between the notes. It’s a record that thrives on restraint, but never feels slight.
What stands out most is the trio’s way of reshaping familiar songs into something wholly their own. The title track, “Kissing Other People,” sets the tone with an earnest yet clear-eyed delivery, steering well clear of melodrama. Their take on Wilco’s “Ashes of American Flags” pulls the song into new terrain—Calcagno’s fiddle lines cutting a smoky weave around Baiman’s vocals, loosening the original’s tight edges into something more expansive. The air in these recordings feels as much a part of the arrangements as the instruments themselves.
The choices of material show both curiosity and reverence. Joan Armatrading’s “Woncha Come On Home” carries a graceful lightness, while Magnolia Electric Co.’s “Hold On Magnolia” emerges as a warm, slowly unfurling highlight. Dottie West’s “A Lesson in Leavin’” may be the most surprising inclusion: what was once a sharp-edged country hit becomes, in their hands, a buoyant, banjo-bright meditation, stripped of gloss but brimming with charm.
The lo-fi edges, a result of recording in producer Greg D. Griffith’s Connecticut home with vintage equipment, lend the songs a lived-in quality. Imperfections are embraced rather than scrubbed away, making the record feel human, approachable, and free from the polish that often sands down folk’s grit.
At times the performances recall the unguarded warmth of the McGarrigle Sisters, but there’s also something distinctly modern in how the trio sidesteps nostalgia. These are not museum-piece covers. They sound alive—restored, but not retouched; reinvented without strain.
In the end, kissing other ppl is less about radical reinvention and more about quiet transformation. It’s a reminder that even well-worn songs can be made to glow anew when handled with care, curiosity, and an ear for unspoken emotion. The record is short, yes, but every track lingers, the way an unexpected conversation with a stranger sometimes does. – Jason Felton
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzIPSj8y7d8&list=RDEzIPSj8y7d8&start_radio=1